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Description:1960/62.
Image shows a large group of men gathered together outside the Anchor Inn at 94 Church Street. Many are smiling as they are about to embark on their annual trip to Blackpool. John Stokes is on the front row, third from the left.

User Comments:

Name:

Graham A. Schofield

Comment:

It was a much different world back then. Very few people owned a car, and scenes like this were common-place during the summer months. In the light of seeing so many public houses having to close down these days, I wonder how many can boast a core of regulars like this. But there is something else to note. How many female faces can you see in this group? It wasn't the done thing back then. I wonder if this pub., is still up and running

I think this picture is probably from the early 60s as the tail of the car shown at the right hand side I am sure is a Ford Classic 315 which didn't appear on the streets until about 1962.
I lived just over the railway bridge at 38 Balm Road and would pass the old Anchor every day on my way to school

I have 2 Evening post cuttings approx 4/5 years apart which refer to this outing and at least half of the people appear on both photo,s. The Landlord who is also in the photo was Jeff Stevenson one of the all time great scrum half's in rugby league, he played for Leeds, York, and at the time of the photo Hunslet, he also played many times for Great Britain.
I recognise a few faces, but one I can put a name to is Mr Thompson he's in the middle front row, a regular all his life, he was a near neighbour of ours, lived at 194 Belle Isle Road, his son Norman was a friend of mine, unfortunatly he suffered from a heart problem and sadly died in 1957 aged 21.

The Anchor was at the bottom of Anchor Street possibly just a little forward of where the Wok Inn now is & it faced onto the old walled cemetery across the road now a little park (I remeber this being covered in by sheets & a policeman on duty 24hrs when the bodies & gravestones were being removed ) The Anchor also faced onto the Chemical works at the corner which is now Tate Cars The works used to churn out some really nasty peppery smoke which used to cover the flagstones & make us cough, possibly how Pepper Road got its name The Shop to the left was a Saddelers owned by Tom Sinclair who has helped write & publish a pamphet about the area the one next to that was owned by Peases & they used to sell just about everything from sweets to toys & papers & even donkey stones for the steps. My son thinks you are right in saying this is a Ford Clasic also known as a Clasic Capri

Both brian foster, and Freda Pocock's Son, have made an accurate identification of the car in this photo. It is indeed a Ford Classic which was introduced for the 1962 model-year. Whether or not it is a 315 saloon, or a 319 coupe known as a Capri, is anyone's guess. Either way, it just goes to show how distinctive our cars used to be. The Classic's four rear-lights were a feature designed to match its four-headlights. It is more than likely that the Public House predated the car by one-hundred years.

When the little walled cemetery was cleared, it was surrounded by a sacking fence to stop people seeing the digging, trouble was the trams & buses stopped there & you could see over!!
People talked about dogs running around with human bones.
The chemical works, where Tates is, was Laporte Acids.

In the picture at the back the tallest person is me,I owned the car i bought it in 1962 i had it for several years a great car a consul classic different to the capri by the shape of the rear window.The man in front of me was my father Walter Taylor who was born in Hunslet in 1907 he worked 52 years at Lax&Shaws glass bottle manufacturers he was a short man but weighed over 18 stone.Jeff Stevenson had just taken over the Anchor from the previous Landlord Walter Baxter who was my cousin and was the landlord for many years

The shop next door to Sinclars was second hand shop and i think he had a sign over the shop window that read Benthoms is better than Burtons and he would hang all second hand suits on a rail
outside the front window.
Raymond Jones.

The Ford Consul Classic had 4 doors and an inverted rear window similar to the Ford Anglias of the 60's, The Consul Capri was very similar at the front but had only two doors and a sloping (fastback)rear window.

Thanks to BillyBritvic, the Consul Classic saga rolls on, but sorry Billy, you're not completely correct - my 1962 Classic 730 DUC, was a two-door. It was a beautiful car, nice to drive, but the early one's like mine had inherant engine problems. By 1964 - when I bought mine second-hand, the engine had been enlarged to 1500cc and was given a five-bearing crankshaft which solved the problems. I simply couldn't afford the uprated model.

I used to go in the Anchor occasionally when I was a young man around this time. It was very popular, so this crowd is not untypical. My uncle Eddy Magee used to use the Anchor a lot more than I did. Eddy had a stutter but could croon like Bing Crosby without a fault. Laportes made sulphuric acid, and the brown fumes coming from the chimney was nitrogen dioxide, a nasty choking acidic gas, so it certainly was 'peppery' but I doubt it had anything to do with Pepper Road!

My dad (and my name sake) used to talk about this pub, I only just remember it and it may have already closed by the time my memory of it starts.
My dad used to tell me there were many a fight outside, on blood alley. He also took part in the removal of the bodies over the road, though I am not sure if he actually removed the bodies or the soil, I recall something about a vile stench and a bursting coffin.

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